Kathryn Marshall
Lawyer and founder of SayKnowMore.ca, a national campaign to end sexual violence on university and college campuses

THE BLOG

Hey Justin, We're Not Your "Ladies"

11/07/2013 10:44 EST
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Updated
01/23/2014 06:58 EST

What's your favourite virtue? Who are your real life heroes? These are the questions that the Liberal Party of Canada is very curious to ask women.

So curious that they're even holding an entire event dedicated to it! That's right, on Thursday night in Toronto, "ladies" are invited for cocktails and candid conversation (for $250 a head) with Justin -- unplugged! The Liberal Party has even been so kind as to craft an invitation specially for our gender, complete with cute cursive writing and lots of splashy colours and of course, Mr. Trudeau's mug plastered all over it Andy Warhol-style. It is being promoted on Twitter with the hashtag #AskJustin.

The only thing missing from this creepy, patronizing and unbelievably ridiculous picture are scented pages and locks of Trudeau's hair as door prizes.

Yes "ladies," it appears Mr. Trudeau is attempting to win our vote with cocktails, small talk and colourful invitations that look like invitations to the Junior Prom! Fortunately, Trudeau's plan has totally backfired. The invitation to his "ladies night" invitation has spread like wildfire over social media, with many people, especially women, pointing out how absurd and sexist it is. The hashtag for the event #askjustin has been completely taken over by people turning the table on Trudeau and giving him a taste of his own patronizing sludge. It trended Wednesday night for all the wrong reasons. Some hilarious gems include:

You might be shocked by the Liberal Party's latest attempt to win over the "women vote," but what do you expect from a party that has actually released, on several occasions, a "Pink Book" on so-called "women's policy," complete with a rose adorned cover. Apparently and rather unbelievably, the Liberal Party thinks dressing policy in pink makes it more palatable to women.

If this is what Trudeau and the Liberal Party think are appealing to female voters in this country, they've got a lot to learn about women.

So Justin, here's a bit of advice from a lady who doesn't feel like spending $250 to tell you what her favourite virtues are:

Ask women the same thing you ask men. Don't treat us any different because of our gender. Ask us about policy, about your platform, and engage us in intelligent discussion of substance. Don't patronize us.

Don't treat women like we're one homogeneous voting block. We care about all issues, from child care to the economy.

There is no such thing as women's issues, because women's issues are society's issues.

Retire the Pink Book. It's just embarrassing. You wouldn't have a Blue Book for men, so why do you have a Pink Book for women?